Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) is poised to have significant impact in biomedical and bio behavioral research (BBR) both regionally and nationally. SIUE has a unique mix of healthcare and associated disciplines that are not similarly represented in universities in the metropolitan St. Louis and southern Illinois regions and offers nearly 20 graduate and professional degrees in the biomedical and behavioral fields. The goal of the proposed project is to increase the quality and quantity of support for BBR, resulting in SIUE faculty submitting a greater number of and more competitive proposals for external funding and more faculty and students from underrepresented groups (URG) participating in BBR. SIUE will implement strategies for strengthening research administration support through the following three specific aims. 1. Improve pre-award and compliance services in the areas of BBR by: 1.1. Adding a staff member specifically trained to support BBR to the pre-award staff of ORP 1.2. Expanding the overall knowledge base of pre-award research administration staff in BBR projects 1.3. Developing expanded ORP support services and tools to increase the efficiency of grant administration 2. Increase the interaction o faculty with interest in BBR to increase research collaborations. 3. Increase involvement of URG in BBR activities by: 3.1. Leveraging current internal programs to increase support to students and faculty of URG 3.2. Leveraging current and instituting new mentoring opportunities for faculty and graduate students. These aims will increase the ability of the Office of Research and Projects (ORP) to assist with pre-award, post-award, and compliance issues; increase the number of faculty pursuing external support for BBR; as well as facilitate collaboration across disciplines and between faculty at SIUE and two research intensive universities with strong BBR programs, Washington University in St. Louis and the SIU School of Medicine. The resulting research activity and collaboration will provide unique experiential learning opportunities for students and mentoring for graduate students and faculty, including those from URG. With SIUE's long history of service to the people of the region, many of whom live in the most economically depressed areas in the state, the project also has the potential to increase substantially the quality of life in the region.